Wireless Connectivity Has Reached The World Of Digital Photography
By Dikla Kadosh
Imagine being able to
use your memory card over and over again without having to take it
out of your digital camera even once. Imagine photographing an event
and having the pictures simultaneously appear on your Website for
your family and friends to see. Imagine taking a picture and saving
it on your computer at the same time, without having to be anywhere
near it.
Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity (IEEE 802.11[x]), is a technology that
allows you to connect to the Internet from various locations without
any cables. Wi-Fi-enabled computers and peripherals send and receive
data indoors and out, anywhere within a range of a base station, or
“hot spot.” A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers
to each other, to the Internet and to wired networks. The technology
has spread quickly to laptops and many locations such as airports,
hotels, coffee shops and other public areas that are Wi-Fi-accessible.
Best of all, it’s fast.
Nikon’s D2h digital
SLR is the first camera to offer built-in Wi-Fi transmission capabilities,
making it possible for you to transfer images faster and more conveniently
over a wireless Local Area Network (LAN). Initially intended to help
sports and news photographers deliver images from the field to the
newsroom as quickly as possible, this new technology will undoubtedly
find uses in hundreds of other photography applications. From event
photography to personal use, the potential is mind-boggling.
The Nikon WT-1A is an optional accessory, a lightweight wireless transmitter
that can be attached to the bottom of the D2h and connected via the
USB 2.0 port. The transmitter interfaces directly with any IEEE 802.11b
standard compatible access point and wirelessly transfers images and
sound data to the host computer using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
method. Two transmission modes allow you to send data either to an
FTP server via an access point or directly to a specific PC notebook
that has been set up as an FTP server. With the included one-inch
antenna, you can transfer your images within a 100-foot radius, or
for an extended range of 500 feet, you can get the additional external
antenna.
You can program the camera and WT-1A accessory to various settings,
such as automatically transferring an image every time a frame is
shot and saving it on a CompactFlash card simultaneously. If you prefer
to choose which images get transmitted and which don’t, you
can configure the camera so it shows you a preview of each image on
the LCD before giving you the option to send it. You also can choose
to delete the images from the card as they’re being transmitted,
hence the ability to reuse your memory card over and over again. You
can continue to shoot and capture images normally while the data is
transferring, and if the transmission is disrupted for some reason,
it will be automatically resumed.
Wireless transfer is fast and easy, but it also needs to be secure.
The WT-1A has three security protocols protecting your valuable image
data. ESS-ID (Extended Service Set ID) adds a password that you configure
in the access point, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is designed to
provide the same level of security as that of a wired LAN, and MAC
Address lets you add a unique address on a wireless MAC network for
a higher level of security.
This exciting development in digital photography not only speeds up
your workflow, but adds flexibility, convenience and security to your
experience. Currently only available in the Nikon D2h, we hope to
see this technology applied to more digital cameras in the future.
Just imagine the possibilities!
